Piper Halliwell
Piper Halliwell is a witch from the drama fantasy series Charmed. Piper is a witch and more specifically a Charmed One – one of the three most powerful witches the world has ever known. She was portrayed by Holly Marie Combs throughout the entire series run. In 2008, AOL named Piper the third greatest television witch in history, proceeding Samantha Stevens and Willow Rosenberg. Piper is introduced as the middle sister between Prue and Phoebe, but later becomes the eldest after Prue is killed and her half-sister Paige is introduced. Piper's main struggle is living a norma life while also battling demons and other evil forces in San Francisco. In addition to the series, she has also appeared in the Charmed comic book series. Casting As Warner Bros. Television was looking for a new television drama, they turned to Spelling TV which had previously produced a popular hit 7th Heaven. Spelling TV had expanded on the popularity of supernatural dramas (especially after the premieres of other WB television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''which aired from 1997 to 2003 and ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''which aired from 1996 to 2003) and turned to Constance M. Burge, who created the idea of ''Charmed. Piper is based on Burge's older sister, Edie. Shanne Doherty originally audtioned for the role of Piper and Holly Marie Combs auditioned for the role of Prue. After several readings, both acresses were hiered, but had their roles switched with Holly Marie Combs playing Piper. Television series (1998-2006) Seasons 1-3 (1998-1999) Piper is introduced as the middle sister who keeps peace between her older sister Prue and her younger sister Phoebe. After discovering her heritage of witchcraft, Piper manifests the ability to freeze time. Her power was often triggered by fear. In the first episode"Something Wicca This Way Comes", Piper's boyfriend Jeremy reveals himself to be a warlock who was waiting until the sisters discovered their powers so he could steal their abilities and kill them. The sisters tapped into the Power of Three and vanquished him. During the first season, Piper works as a waitress in a restaurant called Quake. In this season, she also becomes the girlfriend of Leo Wyatt, who is revealed to be the sisters' Whitelighter, a good being who watches over witches. In the second season, Piper has quit working at Quake and opened up her own nightclub called P3. After her breakup with Leo over his arduous Whitelighter duties, she begins dating her nextdoor neighbor Dan Gordon in an attempt to have a normal relationship. Leo, however, still retains feelings for Piper and this creates a major love triangle between Piper, Leo and Dan. Piper later discovers that no matter how much she longs for a normal relationship, she will always love Leo. She breaks up with Dan and reconciles with Leo. In the third season, Piper and Leo have been told by the Elders (senior Whitelighters who govern good magic) to end their relationship because of Piper status as a witch and Leo's status as a Whitelighter. Leo proposes to Piper, saying that once they are married the Elders will not have the power to split them apart. Piper and Leo attempt to be wed during a solar eclipse, which will obscure the Elders from watching over them on Earth. Leo is subsequently captured by the Elders as punishment for attempting to marry a witch. After Piper decides to continue fighting demons dispite Leo's capturing, the Elders return him to her and they finally wed. In the episode "Exit Stradegy", Piper develops the ability to blow things up as an extension of her freezing powers. In the season three finale, Prue and Piper accidentally expose themselves as witches and are servalanced by government officials. A crazed wannabe witch kills Piper after she and Prue throw her out of their house, and Prue rushes Piper to the hospital. Piper dies and Leo consorts with the demon of time, Tempus, to reverse time just enough so he can heal Piper after she and Prue were nearly killed by Shax. Tempus grants his request, but Leo has only enough power to heal Piper, and Prue is left dead. Seasons 4-6 (2001-2004) In the season four premiere, Piper is dealing with the loss of her sister Prue. She attempts numerous spells to bring Prue back to life, but she is not granted the magic to do so. At Prue's funeral, Phoebe receives a premonition after touching Paige Matthews and sees her being killed by Shax, the demon that killed Prue. Phoebe makes it a priority to save Paige, but Piper refuses to continue fighting evil under the circumstances that she is no longer a Charmed One after the death of Prue. During this process, Phoebe and Piper discover that Paige is their long lost half-sister who is destined to reconstitute the Power of Three. Now the elders sister, Piper becomes a mentor of Paige's. During this season, the sisters are able to compose a spell powerful enough to vanquish the source. They believe they are demon free, but the Angel of Destiny comes and gives them the option to relinquish their powers and live normal lives, or continue their charmed legacy. They decide to continue. Subsequently, Piper discovers she's pregnant. In the fith season, Piper's unborn child grants her self-healing abilities and also leaves her indestructable. Piper gives birth to the baby in "The Day Magic Died", and to everyone's surprise, gives birth to a boy (believing it was a girl). She names the baby Wyatt Matthew Halliwell. Wyatt is revealed to be the Twice Blessed Child, the most powerful being of all time and attracts even more demons into the sisters' lives. In the season finale, a Whiteligher Chris is sent to the sisters. The Elders are sent into hiding by the Titans. Chris manipulates events to where Leo must become an Elder and seperate he and Piper. In the sixth season, Piper becomes a valkyrie as an alternative way of dealing Leo. Paige and Phoebe use a spell to help Piper move on, which succeeds when she starts dating again. Chris temporarily reunites Piper and Leo to ensure his conception. Unlike Wyatt's pregnancy, Chris' pregnancy provides no magical protection for Piper, so she is forced to relocate to Magic School. The headmaster of Magic School, Gideon, attempts to kill Wyatt to prevent his evil future, but Gideon is killed by Leo in the season six finale. In the same episode, future Chris dies the same day baby Chris is born. Seasons 7-8 (2004-2006) Piper is mourning over Chris. She and Leo attend to Indian friends' wedding, where they are possessed by the spirits of two Hindu gods. In this season, Leo is given an offer to become an Avatar (neutral beings who seek a Utopian society). Realising that Utopian societies rob people of their free will, Leo sacrifices himself. Piper notices her childrens' mouring over their father's loss, so she and her sisters ally with a demon named Zankou, who turns on the sisters after the Avatars are destroyed. Leo later decides to return to Piper, expensing the loss of his powers, making him mortal. In the seventh season finale, the sisters are forced to fake their own death after killing Zankou. In the eight season, the sisters assume new identities. This season introduces teenage witch Billie Jenkins, who becomes a prodigy of the Charmed Ones with telekinetic abilities. The Charmed Ones discover that Billie and her sister Christie are the "Ultimate Power" and must destroy them. In the series finale, the sisters battle the Ultimate Power, which destroys the manner, killing Phoebe and Paige. Piper and Leo, with the help of Coop's ring, go back in time and prevent the manor from being destroyed. Comic books (2010-) In the beginning of Charmed Season 9, the sisters are living happily in demon-free lives and are all in motherhood. Piper has a third child, a little girl named Prudence Melinda and is planning to own her own restaurant. In the fourth issue, Piper develops the ability to distort molecules, causing them to melt. She first uses this power to trap the resurrected Source in the ground. Powers and abilities Basic powers Scrying, spell casting and potion making All witches possess several basic powers including the ability to cast spells, create potions and scry. Some witches throughout the series seem to be limited to these powers only. As a magical witch, Piper can cast spells, either ones from the Book of Shadows or ones she creates herself, she can also scry--an act wherein a witch uses a crystal and map to locate other beings and create potions, which Piper was said to be the best at. Magical powers Molecular immobilization Molecular immobilization, or as Piper called it 'freezing' was her primary and first power. It allowed her, on a molecular level, to freeze objects and people in time. Throughout the series, it was said that a witch's powers are triggered by different emotions. Piper, for instance, froze things out of panic or fright. In the beginning of the show, Piper was unable to freeze things from afar, but gradually honed her gift and was able to freeze things from great distances. Initially, it was believed that Piper froze time itself, but Leo revealed in the fourth season that her powers worked on a molecular level, not a temporal one. Certain entities throughout the series have immune to Piper's powers. Usually, she freezes them for a couple of seconds before they begin to slowly move again until they break free. Molecular combustion Just as she was able to slow down molecules, causing them to appear frozen in place, she later developed the ability to speed up molecules, causing them to explode. When she first recieved this power, she had trouble controlling it and often would blow things up she intended to freeze. As the series progressed, she was able to use this power almost telekinetically, using it to divert magical attacks thrown at her. Molecular acceleration In the comic series, Piper developed the ability to accelerate molecules at such a level that they begin to distort and melt. Unlike her freezing and exploding powers, this power displayed itself in the form of a channeled beam of energy. Heat and fire can be created from this power, also. Death count Piper has died a total of 12 times throughout the series References Category:Witches Category:Characters